What is post-traumatic stress disorder?
Post-traumatic stress disorder is also known as PTSD. So, PTSD can look really different for all different people. There’s a lot of different PTSD symptoms that come along with it. A lot of different experiences that can happen that might bring on the diagnosis of PTSD and PTSD symptoms. Read more about holistic complex PTSD therapy and Wisdom Within Counseling speciality in Southeastern Connecticut in this article.
PTSD is a cycle of anxiety and depression
Some people might experience panic attacks, racing thoughts, some fearful thoughts, tor anxiety. Maybe, other have low mood, struggle with motivation, and go in and out of depressive episodes. PTSD symptoms can come about when being triggered. Triggers are a term that’s common with PTSD.
To begin, click the button below to book your phone consult for somatic, holistic complex PTSD therapy.
What are PTSD and post-traumatic stress disorder triggers?
Children, teenagers, and adults can develop triggers that are in relation to the trauma that they’ve experienced. There may be a certain event, trauma anniversaries time of year, even certain sounds and spells that may trigger a trauma response for people. Triggers can bring on different PTSD symptoms as well. Dissociation can also come along with PTSD. For example, dissociation is feeling out of your body, having a hard time connecting your mind and body together.
What is hyper vigilance when it comes to PTSD?
Being sensitive to noises and sounds is common with PTSD. It is normal to experience hyper vigilance or feeling on edge. There also are a lot of different experiences that can happen that might cause trauma for people and the diagnosis of PTSD. This can be a single event. Then, it can also be a variety of different events happening throughout a lifetime, which that is called complex-PTSD.
What experiences contribute to complex-PTSD?
Complex-PTSD experiences might include experiencing any type of abuse in childhood, sexual assault, just really struggling with having our needs met. When you were younger, your emotional needs were not met by caregivers. Maybe, having a parent that struggled with mental health or substance use creates complex-PTSD. Then, a parent wasn’t able to be as present as was necessary for a growing child. Those types of things are events that might cause long-term effect called complex PTSD. All of these PTSD symptoms can come about from childhood trauma as well.
How do fight, flight and freeze play a role when it comes to complex-PTSD therapy?
Trauma can also cause a stress response. Those are fight, flight, freeze or fawn states. Fight and flight are pretty well known. When triggered, you may want to flee or fight back. Other stress responses called freeze and fawn. Fight is when you are really feeling angry, hurt, betrayed, jealous or triggered, your stress response occurs.
To begin, click the button below to book your phone consult for somatic, holistic complex PTSD therapy.
Let’s talk about fight, flight and freeze.
We may get into some verbal argument. It may physical, and you are up on the defense. You really wanted to stick up for yourself. And, then flight is feeling a little more anxious, kind of backing away from the situation. Flight is feeling the need to separate from the trigger and possibly numb out. Freeze which is when a trigger happens, and you feel very stuck or frozen. When you are not sure what to do and are frozen in the moment, dissociation can happen. Dissociation is a survival mechanism for disconnecting from your surroundings and turning off mind-body connection.
What is fawn as a trauma response and PTSD symptom?
The last stress response is called fawn. This can really look like a lot of people pleasing. Maybe, you are struggling with abandonment feelings and just wanting to please others in order to feel okay. People pleasing and over caregiving are fawn responses. To not struggle with that feeling of abandonment, you might do people pleasing. People pleasing can come out of trauma as a PTSD response. As well, people pleasing can stem from experiences that have happened in childhood as well. Healing and recovering from complex PTSD takes the help of a specialist at Wisdom Within Counseling.
How do attachment styles play into holistic complex-PTSD therapy?
Also, we all develop different attachment styles. Attachment styles come about from what we’ve experienced in childhood, and trauma. As well, attachment styles come from the relationships that we’ve had and the environments that we’ve been in. Attachment styles follow us into adult relationships as well.
Anxious attachment styles in holistic complex PTSD therapy
One attachment style is anxious attachment, which kind of goes with that fawn stress response. There is anxiety and fear of abandonment in relationships. With anxious attachment styles, you may be anxious in your relationships. As well, you may want the person to be there no matter what and really want to please them.
Art, yoga, music, drama, and animal therapies support healing in holistic complex PTSD therapy and counseling.
Avoidant attachment style as a complex trauma response
Another one is avoidant attachment, which is kind of the opposite of anxious attachment. In an avoidant attachment style, you may feel a disconnection from people. You may be struggling to form close relationships and struggling with trusting others. Avoidant attachment styles can stem from any experiences in childhood. To add, growing up with an avoidant parent can in turn affect some of your relationships as you older. And, the thing with trauma is it’s really important to have a space to be able to process these experiences, such as counseling. At Wisdom Within Counseling, the team of therapists specialize in holistic complex PTSD therapy.
Why work with the team of holistic complex PTSD therapists at Wisdom Within Counseling?
At Wisdom Within Counseling, our team of complex trauma specialists use a lot of different, creative, mind-body therapeutic approaches. And, these holistic approaches include creative arts and expressive therapies. In relation to trauma and PTSD, holistic complex PTSD therapies support mind-body connections. Counseling with a trauma specialist help you become more aware of complex trauma symptoms. Then, you can identify triggers and attachment styles. You can develop positive coping skills to move through the process of healing complex trauma. Therapy can help you in moving forward, healing, figuring out what to do next. Holistic complex PTSD therapy can help make overwhelming, intense trauma symptoms feel a little bit more manageable.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, all of our clinicians really practice from a holistic approach.
We’re taking that mind-body approach and connection. Studies show how important mind-body therapies are for complex PTSD. Having that trauma experiences can cause a struggle within friendships, family, and romantic relationships. Holistic complex PTSD therapy supports having a mind-body connection and grounding techniques.
To begin, click the button below to book your phone consult for somatic, holistic complex PTSD therapy.
What does creative, holistic complex PTSD therapy look like?
To support mind-body connection, holistic complex PTSD therapy includes meditation, yoga, and sound bowl healing. Complex trauma therapy at Wisdom Within Counseling helps us reconnect with our mind and body. Doing these step-by-step in ways help survivors of complex trauma feel safe in the world again. Little by little, you can get comfortable integrating mind-body therapies into your life for connection. Holistic, somatic complex trauma therapies rewire the brain and nervous system slowly over time, back to a peaceful, less hyper aroused place.
How can animal therapy be helpful after trauma?
Animal therapies can help children, teens, and couples learn to trust their instincts. You can respond of non-verbal ques the animals gives when touching them. Instead of feeling afraid, we can become perceptive, inquisitive, and fascinated with the animal’s body language. At Wisdom Within Counseling, we strive to foster a positive, mutual, caring relationship with you.
Animal, yoga, art, music, and drama therapies are healing for expressing trauma symptoms
After trauma, children, teenagers, and adults can often relate to animals better than people. This is because animals offer unconditional love and support. From animals in therapy, children, teens, and adults can learn to trust the world is safe again after trauma. Children, teens, adults, and families have trouble building trust again after such an anxiety-provoking, scary, traumatic event. After experiences of sexual, physical, emotional and verbal abuse, animals, yoga, and music provide a sense of control. As well, in a trauma experience, you had no control and felt powerless. Therefore, the team at Wisdom Within Counseling support survivors of trauma in feeling safe in animal therapy. At Wisdom Within Counseling, animals, art, yoga, music, and creative therapies help you build trust again.
Mind-body, holistic, somatic therapies to help you be in your body and to cope with depressive symptoms, anxiety, and panic attacks.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, we also use a lot of creative and expressive arts approaches. Through music, drama, yoga, and art you can create trauma healing and a coping toolbox. Peyton Mayzel is a board-certified music therapist. Shelby Davis is a drama therapist at Wisdom Within Counseling. Katie Ziskind, the owner is certified in yoga therapy as well. We use a lot of different art and holistic modalities whether that’s music, song writing, yoga, and drama therapy. We have a whole art closet with a lot of different art modalities drawing, painting for complex trauma therapy.
Walk and talk therapy in nature is a choice in holistic complex PTSD therapy
Wisdom Within Counseling is right down this road from the boardwalk in Niantic, Connecticut. We offer you an opportunity to spend time outside in your counseling session. As well, going on walks, being in nature, provides a sense of grounding as well in C-PTSD counseling. Using all of your senses can be positive coping skills for ta sense of grounding and processing trauma. Walking therapies by the beach are always available at Wisdom Within Counseling.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, and we’re here for you to be able to process your trauma.
You can have a safe place to work through C-PTSD and work through some distressing symptoms. In holistic complex PTSD therapy, you can develop coping skills that can help you manage trauma symptoms.
With trauma tools, you can confidently and creatively get through your day-to-day and functioning without trauma memories holding you back.
Katie Ziskind, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and her team provide experiential therapy in Niantic, Connecticut and online. We are licensed in Florida and Connecticut. In Niantic, Connecticut at Wisdom Within Counseling, Katie Ziskind and the team of therapists specialize in somatic, creative, holistic complex PTSD therapies.
